The Man-Machine
The Man-Machine (German: Die Mensch-Maschine) is the seventh studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in May 1978. It includes the singles "The Model" and "The Robots". Upon its release, the NME stated: "The Man-Machine stands as one of the pinnacles of 70's rock music."1 Although the album was initially unsuccessful on the UK Albums Chart, it reached a new peak position of number nine in February 1982,2 becoming the band's second highest-peaking album in the United Kingdom after Autobahn (1974).3 The Man-Machine was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 15 February 1982, denoting shipments in excess of 100,000 copies.4 Contents 1 Background and release 2 Critical reception 3 Track listing 4 Personnel 5 Charts 6 References 7 External links Background and release The Man-Machine is the first Kraftwerk album to have Karl Bartos co-credited as a composer along with Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Emil Schult co-wrote the lyrics for "The Model". In October 2009, a remastered edition of the album was released on CD and digital download by Mute Records in Europe and by Astralwerks in the United States,56 with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November 2009.7 Critical reception Professional ratings Review scores Source Rating AllMusic 4.5/5 stars8 Drowned in Sound 10/109 Encyclopedia of Popular Music 4/5 stars10 Mojo 5/5 stars11 The Rolling Stone Album Guide 4/5 stars12 Sputnikmusic 4/513 Uncut 4/5 stars14 The Village Voice B+15 The NME wrote a glowing review and said: "Kraftwerk manage to convey the entire 'melange of elements' by musical means alone: the sparsity of the lyrics leaves the emphasis squarely on those robot rhythms; chilling tones and exquisite melodies." Critic Andy Gill also praised the "complexity of construction", saying "there's a lot more than electronic percussion in there".1 Track listing Side A No. Title Lyrics Music Length 1. "The Robots" ("Die Roboter") Ralf Hütter Hütter, Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos 6:11 2. "Spacelab" Hütter Hütter, Bartos 5:51 3. "Metropolis" Hütter Hütter, Schneider, Bartos 5:59 Side B No. Title Lyrics Music Length 4. "The Model" ("Das Model") Hütter, Emil Schult Hütter, Bartos 3:38 5. "Neon Lights" ("Neonlicht") Hütter Hütter, Schneider, Bartos 9:03 6. "The Man-Machine" ("Die Mensch-Maschine") Hütter Hütter, Bartos 5:28 Personnel Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Man-Machine.16 KraftwerkRalf Hütter – album concept, artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster), cover, electronics, keyboards, Orchestron, production, Synthanorma Sequenzer, synthesiser, vocoder, voice Florian Schneider – album concept, electronics, production, synthesiser, vocoder, Votrax Karl Bartos – electronic percussion Wolfgang Flür – electronic drums Additional personnelGünther Fröhling – photography Leanard Jackson – engineering Karl Klefisch – lettering Joschko Rudas – engineering Henning Schmitz – assistant engineering Johann Zambryski – artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster) Charts Chart (1978) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)17 56 Austrian Albums Chart18 15 Dutch Albums Chart19 29 German Albums Chart20 12 Swedish Albums Chart21 24 US Top LPs & Tape22 130 Chart (1982) Peak position UK Albums Chart2 9 References 1.^ Jump up to: a b Gill, Andy (29 April 1978). "Mind Machine Music". NME. 2.^ Jump up to: a b "1982 Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive". Official Charts Company. 20 February 1982. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 3.Jump up ^ "Kraftwerk" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 August 2013. 4.Jump up ^ "Certified Awards". British Phonographic Industry. 15 February 1982. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 5.Jump up ^ "The Man Machine recording remastered". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 6.Jump up ^ "The Man Machine (Remastered) by Kraftwerk". iTunes Store UK. Apple. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 7.Jump up ^ "The Man Machine VINYL Edition, Original recording remastered". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 8.Jump up ^ Huey, Steve. "The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 9.Jump up ^ Power, Chris (13 October 2009). "Album Review: Kraftwerk – The Man-Machine: Remastered". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 10.Jump up ^ Larkin, Colin (2007). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-857-12595-8. 11.Jump up ^ Snow, Mat (November 2009). "Gut Vibrations". Mojo (London) (192): 110. ISSN 1351-0193. 12.Jump up ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 468–69. ISBN 0-743-20169-8. 13.Jump up ^ Med57 (3 June 2005). "Kraftwerk – Computer World". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 9 January 2016. 14.Jump up ^ Cavanagh, David (16 October 2009). "Uncut Reviews: Kraftwerk – Reissues". Uncut (London). Retrieved 1 May 2014. 15.Jump up ^ Christgau, Robert (September 4, 1978). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved April 29, 2013. 16.Jump up ^ The Man-Machine (remastered CD liner notes). Kraftwerk. Mute Records. 2009. CDSTUMM 306. 17.Jump up ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 170. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 18.Jump up ^ "Kraftwerk – Die Mensch-Maschine" (in German). austriancharts.at. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 19.Jump up ^ "Kraftwerk – The Man·Machine" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 20.Jump up ^ "Kraftwerk, Die Mensch-Maschine" (in German). charts.de. Media Control. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 21.Jump up ^ "Kraftwerk – The Man·Machine". swedishcharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 March 2014. 22.Jump up ^ "The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk | Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 March 2014. External links Russian cartoon "Возвращение блудного попугая" ("The Return of the Prodigal Parrot", 1987); excerpt from song "The Man-Machine" from 8:00 to 8:35 hide v · t · e Kraftwerk Ralf Hütter · Fritz Hilpert · Henning Schmitz · Falk Grieffenhagen Florian Schneider · Houschäng Néjadepour · Plato Kostic · Peter Schmidt · Charly Weiss · Thomas Lohmann · Eberhard Kranemann · Andreas Hohmann · Klaus Dinger · Michael Rother · Emil Schult · Wolfgang Flür · Klaus Röder · Karl Bartos · Fernando Abrantes · Stefan Pfaffe Studio albums Kraftwerk · Kraftwerk 2 · Ralf and Florian · Autobahn · Radio-Activity · Trans-Europe Express · The Man-Machine · Computer World · Electric Café/Techno Pop · The Mix · Tour de France Soundtracks Live albums Minimum-Maximum Compilations Exceller 8 Box sets Klang Box · The Catalogue Singles "Kohoutek-Kometenmelodie" · "Comet Melody 2" · "Autobahn" · "Radioactivity" · "Trans-Europe Express" · "Showroom Dummies" · "Europe Endless" · "The Robots" · "The Model" · "Neon Lights" · "Pocket Calculator" · "Computer Love" · "Numbers" · "Computerwelt" · "Tour de France" · "Musique Non Stop" · "The Telephone Call" · "Expo 2000" · "Tour de France 2003" · "Elektro Kardiogramm" · "Aerodynamik" · "Aerodynamik/La Forme Remixes" Videography Minimum-Maximum Related articles Conny Plank · Düsseldorf School of electronic music · Discography · Elektric Music · Kling Klang Studio · Neu! · Organisation · Tone Float Wikipedia book Book · Category Category Category:1978 albums Category:Albums produced by Florian Schneider Category:Albums produced by Ralf Hütter Category:Capitol Records albums Category:English-language albums Category:German-language albums Category:Kraftwerk albums